UAE and Qatar condemn Iranian strike on Adnoc oil tanker

The UAE and Qatar have strongly condemned an Iranian missile attack on an oil tanker belonging to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. No injuries were reported in the incident. The UAE's Foreign Ministry characterized the strike as a "flagrant violation" of Security Council Resolution 2817, which emphasizes the right to free navigation and condemns the targeting of commercial vessels and the obstruction of international shipping lanes.

Iran must cease these "aggressive attacks" and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to the UAE. This marks the 16th assault on an Adnoc vessel since the conflict began on February 28. Adnoc confirmed that an attack had taken place early Saturday morning, and that the situation was now under control. Qatar's Foreign Ministry also expressed its disapproval of the attack, calling for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened unconditionally and demanding an end to unjustified Iranian aggression.

The Strait of Hormuz, which is responsible for carrying roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas prior to the war, has been largely blocked since Iran mined and militarized the waterway in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that any reopening of the strait would depend on Washington accepting Iran's demands and would not be related to the ongoing Iran-Oman negotiations in Muscat.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Tehran is nearing an agreement with Oman on a legal framework for the strait, but the reopening would hinge on the US compensating for what he claimed were violations of the 2015 US-Iranian Memorandum of Understanding. He also noted that the previous Traffic Separation Scheme is no longer viable for Iran and would need to be substituted with a new route.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a joint appearance with Araghchi, asserted that the US had violated the Strait of Hormuz clause in the Memorandum of Understanding, and that the response to this violation had been reciprocal.